Now that the Annual Health and Welfare Review is open, I’d like to share more about the next step on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway: Animal Health and Welfare grants.
Farmers make decisions all the time about how to invest their money. This includes investments to improve the health and welfare of their livestock. There is rarely enough to cover everything they want to do. A challenging economic environment makes these decisions harder.
That is why we’re offering farmers Animal Health and Welfare grants through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.
If you missed the speech given by Minister Mark Spencer at the NFU Conference today, he set out our £168 million grants offer to support farmers. He also shared plans for small abattoir funding and an update on our ongoing payments. Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will share government's wider plans tomorrow. We’ll post links to both speeches at the bottom of this post as soon as they are available.
Overview of the Animal Health and Welfare grant
These grants, of between £1000 and £25,000, will go towards the cost of items on a list which improve the health and welfare of livestock.
We worked closely with farmers, academics and industry groups to compile the list of items. The list of items can be found in Annex 4 of the guidance.
You might apply for a grant for livestock handling equipment to reduce lameness in sheep or cattle.
To reduce disease transmission in outdoor pigs, you might use grant funding to install sealed water tanks to improve biosecurity.
A poultry farmer could use an automated monitoring system and sensors which free up their time and allow adjustments to be made more quickly and efficiently, limiting environmental stress in poultry housing.
Applying for a grant
We plan to open the application window in March.
The first group eligible to apply will be commercial livestock farmers who keep cattle, pigs, sheep, meat chickens, or laying hens.
In time, we will expand the offer to include match funding for large infrastructure projects to achieve higher levels of animal health and welfare on farms.
You can make your grant application part of your journey on the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
Vets are an essential source of advice so we encourage you to discuss any equipment and technology grant applications with your vet.
They'll be able to help you identify the items which best tackle the specific health and welfare challenges on your farm.
An Annual Health and Welfare Review is a great way to have this conversation, and we hope that you'll take the opportunity to have a fully funded vet visit before applying for a grant.
For the next 3 years, funding will be available for Annual Health and Welfare Reviews, so you can keep that conversation with your vet going. If you find your priorities change, you’ll be able to get advice on other grants.
We recently blogged to explain that the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund is split into 2 themes:
You will be able to apply for a grant under either theme or both, for items that best suit your business. The official guidance on GOV.UK sets out:
- who can apply
- how to apply
- the list of items
It also includes information about the other grants available to help improve farm productivity and the management of slurry.
The window to apply for a Productivity and Slurry grant is now open.
Learn more
Join our webinar
On Tuesday 28 February at 2pm, we will host a webinar for you to find out more about the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund. There will also be an opportunity for you to put questions to us. Register to attend.
Visit the blog
We’ll publish a post listing all the grants available in 2023, so do subscribe to our Farming blog for a notification when that happens.
And finally, as I mentioned, the window for applications to the Productivity and Slurry grant is open so do give that post a read.
14 comments
Comment by Colin Bourner posted on
Please could you explain tunnel ventilation. As far as I am aware tunnel ventilation requires a fan at one end of the building forcing air in and an exhaust fan at the other end of the building.
For this to work satisfactorily the building needs to be enclosed. So the infrastructure required to make tunnel ventilation work in a standard UK cubicle shed makes it unviable. Is it possible that the authorities have Mia understood this and actually mean cross ventilation using Axial fans
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Colin,
thank you for your comment and interest in the Animal Health and Welfare Grants for FETF23.
Funding for tunnel ventilation fans is primarily aimed at farmers in the pig and poultry sectors, in which enclosed buildings represent a significant proportion of the sector. We do not anticipate that tunnel ventilation will be relevant for the majority of sheep or cattle farmers.
However, there are a number of ventilation options available for funding in the cattle and sheep sectors including louvre ventilation systems, positive pressure tube ventilation systems and high volume/low speed fans.
We will also be offering infrastructure grants focused on improving the ambient environment in cattle housing, starting with calf housing in 2023.
Comment by Liz R posted on
FETF Animal Health & Welfare grant - eligible items (annex 4). I've been reviewing the eligible items list and can't seem to find FEFT 115 relating to networks, to be used in conjunction with FETF 100 Livestock Cameras - does this not exist any longer. Cheers
Comment by The Team posted on
Thanks for your query Liz.
The items available for funding via FETF are identified following consultation with farmers, vets and industry groups. The list of items is reviewed ahead of every round, with items added and/or removed, to ensure the most relevant kit and technology for the scheme’s policy objectives are prioritised. On this basis, the decision was made to remove item ‘FETF115 – Wide Area Network Equipment’ for FETF23.
Comment by Mike posted on
Hello, I live on a small holding with 3 Hectares.
Is there any funding or help to kickstart a free range egg farm? Or to begin farming in general?
Thank you for your help.
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Mike,
Thanks for getting in touch.
Through the New Entrant Support Scheme, we want to support those wishing to set up or scale farming businesses in England. We're currently still in the piloting phase. You might've seen my colleague Henry post an update on how things are going: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/29/new-entrant-support-scheme-an-update-on-our-pilots/
As you'll read in the post, we'll be in a position to set out our next steps in autumn. Subscribe to the blog for the latest on that front.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by Vanessa Stanbridge posted on
We rear about 200 calves a year, can we apply for the automatic calf feed system and the addition units, also can we apply for calf hutches as the shed we rear calves in are falling down and fill up with water in the winter or when we have heavy rain
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Vanessa,
Thanks for getting in touch.
You can apply for whichever items you think would be most useful on your farm if you are a commercial livestock farmer in England.
The minimum grant amount you can apply for is £1,000, which the items you have mentioned (automatic calf feeder, additional feed station and outdoor calf housing) would take you over. The maximum grant amount is £25,000.
The portal to apply can be found here: https://ahw.fetf.org.uk/
Further information on how to apply can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2023/about-the-farming-equipment-and-technology-fund-fetf-2023
We will launch a separate grant offer this year to co-fund upgrades to calf housing. The grant will be aimed at improving the health and welfare of calves by providing a good ambient environment and facilitating social contact.
More details will be available soon. If you'd like to speak to one of the team, reply to this comment and we'll use the email address you used when you initially posted.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Innes bell posted on
I'm on a scottish island and run about 120 sheep on 2 different locations 3 miles apart would I be eligible for a mobile sheep handling system?
Kind regards. Innes
Comment by Sarah Stewart posted on
Hi Innes,
Unfortunately, the grants offered through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund are only available to those who farm in England.
As farming is a devolved matter, the Scottish government has its own schemes. Here's a link to an overview of the Scottish offer: https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/schemes-overview/
I had a quick look online and, funded by government, the Scottish Farm Advisory Service offers free one-to-one business advice, worth up to a total of £3,700. Visit https://www.fas.scot/advice-grants/
I hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Comment by Geoff posted on
I applied for the grant funding several months ago and have not heard anything. Who do I contact to query this?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Geoff,
The Rural Payments Agency aim to issue Grant Funding Agreements as quickly as possible following the closure of an application window, usually this is around 4-6 weeks after the window closes. The window to apply for Animal Health and Welfare FETF grants closed on the 15th of June, so you should expect to hear in mid-July.
Best wishes,
The Team
Comment by Jack posted on
I missed the window too apply after only just hearing about it, when will the next applications open ?
Comment by The Team posted on
Hi Jack,
As soon as the next round opens we'll publish a post to let people know. By subscribing, you'll get an email as soon as the post is live: https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/subscribe/
Also, if you're interested in shaping the next round, take a look a this post:https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/24/animal-health-and-welfare-equipment-and-technology-grants-help-shape-the-next-round/
Best wishes,
The Team